Plans to close mental health wards at Royal Bolton Hospital stall as talks break down

PLANS to close 50 mental health beds at the Royal Bolton Hospital could be threatened after talks between between health chiefs broke down.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in Bolton, Salford and Trafford were in discussions with Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Trust to move services into the community.

But now Trafford CCG has backed out because of strong opposition from local councillors.

If the trust’s proposals go ahead, patients will be looked after in their homes — with a 24/7 on-call service and three visits a day by clinicians — or they will be taken to Woodlands Hospital in Little Hulton.

The changes will save £2.1 million, but health chiefs have committed to invest £1.15 million in community services, including £307,000 in the home-based treatment team.

Another £5.86 million will be spent rebuilding the Woodlands site.

Trust chiefs say the consultation will still go ahead, but admit “affordability” is a problem now that Trafford CCG has withdrawn. Bev Humphrey, chief executive of the trust, was “disappointed” with Trafford CCG’s decision.

She said: “We are all working very hard to find a solution.

“I would want to assure people that this does not mean that plans for Bolton and Salford are jeopardised. Our CCG colleagues there remain very supportive of the consultation process, which does not conclude until the end of March.”

William Gallagher, governor for Bolton at the trust, added: “Bed closures are a bad idea and I think Trafford’s move gives us a good inkling about the way this consultation is going to go.”

Cllr Andy Morgan, who sits on Bolton Council’s health scrutiny committee, said the consultation should be halted, but there was still a need to redesign services.

He added: “People need to stop playing politics with the NHS.

“I agree with the intent of this consultation for community based services. What we need to remember is that the intention was to reinvest money saved from bed closures into community services.

“It’s not about savings, it’s about improving services and caring for people in their own homes.”

Comments (4)

Well here we go again shutting down these beds do these idiots never learn look at the the plight of the old folks homes now since the councils homes was shut and went private.Is that not proof for them of what will happen.Who the hell are these faceless morons who are coming up with all this utter madness

Well here we go again shutting down these beds do these idiots never learn look at the the plight of the old folks homes now since the councils homes was shut and went private.Is that not proof for them of what will happen.Who the hell are these faceless morons who are coming up with all this utter madnessSexybum123

".....Who the hell are these faceless morons who are coming up with all this utter madness?

These faceless morons are actually "the enemy within" the NHS in Bolton. they are organisations like "United League Commissioning", based in the North West, and "East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group",

Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group, describes itself as
"... the organisation with responsibility for the health of the people of Bolton, commissioning – buying – services across the borough"

IE. creeping privatisation.

A not so faceless person who regularly spouts propaganda in the BN on behalf of those those who want to privatise the NHS can be seen at the link below:

http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=2pB3Jymor
lM&feature=player_em
bedded

Bolton and every other town city and village with NHS facilities whose resources financial and personnel are being drained, and made to deliberately fail, so as to justify being taken over to provide fat profits for private health companies.

One of those companies in Bolton is SSP Health. They are using the NHS logo as a front, deceiving the public into thinking they are using NHS facilities, and making a big fat profit whilst NHS mental health doctors, nurses and cleaners and all the other NHS heroes who work in NHS hospitals crack under the strain of £20 BILLION government health cuts-...........CUTS - NOT SAVINGS.

The latest situation concerning a GP practice in Accrington, Lancashire is typical.

Despite the fact that Accrington’s Victoria Health Access Centre has an

excellent reputation according to its patients: ( http://www.nhs.uk/Se
rvices

/GP/Performance/Defa
ultView.aspx?id=4163
0) East Lancashire Clinical

Commissioning Group (ELCCG) -which of course has absolutely no

connection with United League Commissioning- has surprise surprise,

launched a so-called “consultation” on primary care in Hyndburn,

warning that “…financial pressures mean some services may have to be

cut…”

And who will be hiding in the wings to come to the rescue?…that’s right,

husband and wife team Drs. Shikha and Sanjay Pitalia of SSP Health.

It is because of people such as them that GPs are leaving the NHS.

HERE IS AN ARTICLE BY ONE SUCH GP.

“It’s been an amazing privilege working as a family doctor. I am trusted with the long-term care and health of sometimes four generations, and I have tried to help with their most intimate and complex problems, sometimes shared only with me. It’s the best job in medicine, and the NHS was the best place to practice.

So why am I retiring early? Because for several years I’ve fought the dismantling of the founding principles of Bevan’s NHS and on 1 April I lost. That was the day the main provisions of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into effect. On Wednesday night, a last-gasp attempt in the House of Lords to annul the part pushing competitive tendering sadly failed.

The democratic and legal basis of the English NHS and the secretary of state’s duty to provide comprehensive health services have now gone, and the framework that allows for wholesale privatisation of the planning, organisation, supply, finance and distribution of our health care is now in place. Since 1948, we GPs have been our patient’s advocate, championing the care we judge is needed clinically.

Everyone necessary for that care co-operated for the good of the patient – they didn’t compete for the benefit of shareholders. Sadly, patients are now right to be suspicious of motives concerning decisions made about them, which until recently, almost uniquely in the world, have been purely in their best clinical interest. Most politicians understand little about general practice, have no idea about the importance of continuity of care and blame GPs for a rise in hospital work, even though this is a direct result of their policies.

I believe patient choice is an illusion as I am restricted in terms of where I can refer and what treatments I can use. GPs are now expected to collude with rationing, are sent incomprehensible financial spreadsheets telling us our “activity levels” are too high and in some areas are prevented from speaking out about this, despite the government’s weasel words about duty of candour after Mid Staffs. Practices are already being solicited by private companies touting for business, often connected to members of my own profession. But the lie that GPs are now in control of the money will soon be exposed. Most services are to go out to tender, which will paralyse decision-making.

Now your doctor, the hospital, your specialist or the employing company has a financial incentive built into the clinical decision-making – even whether or not you are seen at all. Your referral may be to a related company, with both profiting from your care – so was that operation, procedure or investigation really in your best clinical interest? Or you may be told a service is now no longer available. The jargon used is that “we are not commissioned for that”. But you can pay. The elephant in the consulting room is the ethical implication of private medicine. In my 30 years as an NHS GP, some of the most disastrously treated patients are those who elected for private care. Decisions were made about them for the wrong reasons, namely profit. Patients are rarely aware of this.

The politicians who drive this unnecessary revolution claim the NHS is not being privatised because it is still free at the point of use. This is duplicitous as the two are not connected. They are ignorant or dismissive of the founding principles of the NHS which include it being universal and comprehensive – both of which have gone. The NHS logo appears on all sorts of private company buildings and notepaper which is one reason patients haven’t noticed the change yet. Just leaving “free at the point of use” under an NHS kitemark doesn’t constitute a national health service. It’s now one small step to insurance companies picking up the bill (but obviously profiting from it) rather than the state. An Americanised system run by many US companies. The end of a “60-year-old mistake”, as Jeremy Hunt once co-authored.

I am proud to have been an NHS GP. I believe the way a society delivers its healthcare defines the values and nature of that society. In the US, healthcare is not primarily about looking after the nation’s health but a huge multi-company, money-making machine which makes some people extremely rich but neglects millions of its citizens. We are being dragged into that machine and I want no part in it.

The politicians responsible for this must live with their consciences, as it is the greatest failure of democracy in my lifetime.”

".....Who the hell are these faceless morons who are coming up with all this utter madness?
These faceless morons are actually "the enemy within" the NHS in Bolton. they are organisations like "United League Commissioning", based in the North West, and "East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group",
Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group, describes itself as
"... the organisation with responsibility for the health of the people of Bolton, commissioning – buying – services across the borough"
IE. creeping privatisation.
A not so faceless person who regularly spouts propaganda in the BN on behalf of those those who want to privatise the NHS can be seen at the link below:
http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=2pB3Jymor
lM&feature=player_em
bedded
Bolton and every other town city and village with NHS facilities whose resources financial and personnel are being drained, and made to deliberately fail, so as to justify being taken over to provide fat profits for private health companies.
One of those companies in Bolton is SSP Health. They are using the NHS logo as a front, deceiving the public into thinking they are using NHS facilities, and making a big fat profit whilst NHS mental health doctors, nurses and cleaners and all the other NHS heroes who work in NHS hospitals crack under the strain of £20 BILLION government health cuts-...........CUTS - NOT SAVINGS.
Copy and paste these links to see whats going on in our NHS.
http://www.labournet
.net/ukunion/1211/SS
PHealth.pdf
http://www.hsj.co.uk
/news/primary-care/n
hs-england-working-w
ith-gp-firm-over-mer
seyside-practice-con
cerns/5062905.articl
e#.UvD2cbRn1qE
http://www.keepournh
spublic.com/pdf/data
-opt-out.pdf
The latest situation concerning a GP practice in Accrington, Lancashire is typical.
Despite the fact that Accrington’s Victoria Health Access Centre has an
excellent reputation according to its patients: ( http://www.nhs.uk/Se
rvices
/GP/Performance/Defa
ultView.aspx?id=4163
0) East Lancashire Clinical
Commissioning Group (ELCCG) -which of course has absolutely no
connection with United League Commissioning- has surprise surprise,
launched a so-called “consultation” on primary care in Hyndburn,
warning that “…financial pressures mean some services may have to be
cut…”
And who will be hiding in the wings to come to the rescue?…that’s right,
husband and wife team Drs. Shikha and Sanjay Pitalia of SSP Health.
It is because of people such as them that GPs are leaving the NHS.
HERE IS AN ARTICLE BY ONE SUCH GP.
“It’s been an amazing privilege working as a family doctor. I am trusted with the long-term care and health of sometimes four generations, and I have tried to help with their most intimate and complex problems, sometimes shared only with me. It’s the best job in medicine, and the NHS was the best place to practice.
So why am I retiring early? Because for several years I’ve fought the dismantling of the founding principles of Bevan’s NHS and on 1 April I lost. That was the day the main provisions of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into effect. On Wednesday night, a last-gasp attempt in the House of Lords to annul the part pushing competitive tendering sadly failed.
The democratic and legal basis of the English NHS and the secretary of state’s duty to provide comprehensive health services have now gone, and the framework that allows for wholesale privatisation of the planning, organisation, supply, finance and distribution of our health care is now in place. Since 1948, we GPs have been our patient’s advocate, championing the care we judge is needed clinically.
Everyone necessary for that care co-operated for the good of the patient – they didn’t compete for the benefit of shareholders. Sadly, patients are now right to be suspicious of motives concerning decisions made about them, which until recently, almost uniquely in the world, have been purely in their best clinical interest. Most politicians understand little about general practice, have no idea about the importance of continuity of care and blame GPs for a rise in hospital work, even though this is a direct result of their policies.
I believe patient choice is an illusion as I am restricted in terms of where I can refer and what treatments I can use. GPs are now expected to collude with rationing, are sent incomprehensible financial spreadsheets telling us our “activity levels” are too high and in some areas are prevented from speaking out about this, despite the government’s weasel words about duty of candour after Mid Staffs. Practices are already being solicited by private companies touting for business, often connected to members of my own profession. But the lie that GPs are now in control of the money will soon be exposed. Most services are to go out to tender, which will paralyse decision-making.
Now your doctor, the hospital, your specialist or the employing company has a financial incentive built into the clinical decision-making – even whether or not you are seen at all. Your referral may be to a related company, with both profiting from your care – so was that operation, procedure or investigation really in your best clinical interest? Or you may be told a service is now no longer available. The jargon used is that “we are not commissioned for that”. But you can pay. The elephant in the consulting room is the ethical implication of private medicine. In my 30 years as an NHS GP, some of the most disastrously treated patients are those who elected for private care. Decisions were made about them for the wrong reasons, namely profit. Patients are rarely aware of this.
The politicians who drive this unnecessary revolution claim the NHS is not being privatised because it is still free at the point of use. This is duplicitous as the two are not connected. They are ignorant or dismissive of the founding principles of the NHS which include it being universal and comprehensive – both of which have gone. The NHS logo appears on all sorts of private company buildings and notepaper which is one reason patients haven’t noticed the change yet. Just leaving “free at the point of use” under an NHS kitemark doesn’t constitute a national health service. It’s now one small step to insurance companies picking up the bill (but obviously profiting from it) rather than the state. An Americanised system run by many US companies. The end of a “60-year-old mistake”, as Jeremy Hunt once co-authored.
I am proud to have been an NHS GP. I believe the way a society delivers its healthcare defines the values and nature of that society. In the US, healthcare is not primarily about looking after the nation’s health but a huge multi-company, money-making machine which makes some people extremely rich but neglects millions of its citizens. We are being dragged into that machine and I want no part in it.
The politicians responsible for this must live with their consciences, as it is the greatest failure of democracy in my lifetime.”Puffin-Billy

Plans which Councillor Andy Morgan’s government would like to see implemented, are being discussed by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in Bolton, Salford and Trafford, and Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Trust.

Those plans would deprive mental health patients of NHS facilities which are near their homes and their families.

The plans would mean that patients who normally use facilities at Bolton, Salford and Trafford would have to travel to Prestwich.

The plans would cause harm to poorer patients because they and their families would have to travel many miles further.

Councillor Andy Morgan’s Government believes that an 85% bed occupancy rate is a safe one – however:
The bed closures which Councillor Andy Morgan’s government and the Clinical Commissioning Groups wish to implement would mean:

a bed occupancy rate in Bolton of well over 98%.
greater stress for patients and their families.
patient recovery time being prolonged.
access to leave being reduced.
contact with family and friends reduced.
community workers having to travel further.

Councillor Andy Morgan’s government are cutting NHS funding by £20 BILLION, whilst expecting the NHS to provide the same service….well actually, they don’t expect anything of the kind; they expect private businesses to take over.
The policies which Councillor Andy Morgan’s government have implemented:

have resulted in the closure of 1500 ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED mental health beds closing in England in the last 2 years.
mean that NHS mental health care is now in crisis, with duty workers across England reporting times when there are no beds available anywhere.
mean that mental illness is increasing due to stress.
mean that the number of elderly people is increasing, while services for them are being cut.
mean that replacement services are not defined.
mean that replacement Services have not been piloted.
mean that replacement services are not evidence based.
mean that there will be a net loss of jobs.
mean that section 188 threat of redundancy notice have been given to the unions representing staff.

The policies which Councillor Andy Morgan’s government which to impose on NHS Mental Health Services are financially driven, not patient-care driven.

Cllr Andy Morgan, who sits on Bolton Council’s health scrutiny committee says: “It’s not about savings…”. He is right…it’s about CUTS…£20 BILLION OF THEM.

Cllr Andy Morgan, who sits on Bolton Council’s health scrutiny committee says: “…it’s about improving services…”. He is wrong…none of the above bullet points are improvements.

Cllr Andy Morgan, who sits on Bolton Council’s health scrutiny committee, says: “It’s about caring for people in their own homes.” He is wrong…it’s about shutting down NHS facilities and handing them to private health companies.

Cllr Andy Morgan should get off Bolton Council Health Overview and Scrutiny committee.

Cllr Andy Morgan and his vile Government should stop playing politics with the NHS.

Cllr Andy Morgan Says "Stop Playing Politics With NHS"
If Only!
Plans which Councillor Andy Morgan’s government would like to see implemented, are being discussed by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in Bolton, Salford and Trafford, and Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Trust.
Those plans would deprive mental health patients of NHS facilities which are near their homes and their families.
The plans would mean that patients who normally use facilities at Bolton, Salford and Trafford would have to travel to Prestwich.
The plans would cause harm to poorer patients because they and their families would have to travel many miles further.
Councillor Andy Morgan’s Government believes that an 85% bed occupancy rate is a safe one – however:
The bed closures which Councillor Andy Morgan’s government and the Clinical Commissioning Groups wish to implement would mean:
a bed occupancy rate in Bolton of well over 98%.
greater stress for patients and their families.
patient recovery time being prolonged.
access to leave being reduced.
contact with family and friends reduced.
community workers having to travel further.
Councillor Andy Morgan’s government are cutting NHS funding by £20 BILLION, whilst expecting the NHS to provide the same service….well actually, they don’t expect anything of the kind; they expect private businesses to take over.
The policies which Councillor Andy Morgan’s government have implemented:
have resulted in the closure of 1500 ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED mental health beds closing in England in the last 2 years.
mean that NHS mental health care is now in crisis, with duty workers across England reporting times when there are no beds available anywhere.
mean that mental illness is increasing due to stress.
mean that the number of elderly people is increasing, while services for them are being cut.
mean that replacement services are not defined.
mean that replacement Services have not been piloted.
mean that replacement services are not evidence based.
mean that there will be a net loss of jobs.
mean that section 188 threat of redundancy notice have been given to the unions representing staff.
The policies which Councillor Andy Morgan’s government which to impose on NHS Mental Health Services are financially driven, not patient-care driven.
Cllr Andy Morgan, who sits on Bolton Council’s health scrutiny committee says: “It’s not about savings…”. He is right…it’s about CUTS…£20 BILLION OF THEM.
Cllr Andy Morgan, who sits on Bolton Council’s health scrutiny committee says: “…it’s about improving services…”. He is wrong…none of the above bullet points are improvements.
Cllr Andy Morgan, who sits on Bolton Council’s health scrutiny committee, says: “It’s about caring for people in their own homes.” He is wrong…it’s about shutting down NHS facilities and handing them to private health companies.
Cllr Andy Morgan should get off Bolton Council Health Overview and Scrutiny committee.
Cllr Andy Morgan and his vile Government should stop playing politics with the NHS.Puffin-Billy

Sexybum123 wrote:
Well here we go again shutting down these beds do these idiots never learn look at the the plight of the old folks homes now since the councils homes was shut and went private.Is that not proof for them of what will happen.Who the hell are these faceless morons who are coming up with all this utter madness

As a person that has had a family member that has used this service . there is no way that these wards should close. The wards and staff offer a valuable service.

These people that are making these desicions have not had to deal with the, proplems that are faced with people that have Dementia, like the walking out at 3am, violence etc.

Keep the wards open.

[quote][p][bold]Sexybum123[/bold] wrote:
Well here we go again shutting down these beds do these idiots never learn look at the the plight of the old folks homes now since the councils homes was shut and went private.Is that not proof for them of what will happen.Who the hell are these faceless morons who are coming up with all this utter madness[/p][/quote]As a person that has had a family member that has used this service . there is no way that these wards should close. The wards and staff offer a valuable service.
These people that are making these desicions have not had to deal with the, proplems that are faced with people that have Dementia, like the walking out at 3am, violence etc.
Keep the wards open.Alicedill